Malcolm Jenkins

There is nothing that says you can't be active and love your community and fight for your community and still do your job.

I grew up playing in the streets. We played two-hand touch from street pole to street pole. That's how I learned the game.

Our biggest thing is, any player who's protesting will tell you that the only reason we use the anthem is because it's a platform like no other. We use it to draw attention to other issues. We've heard from many people, 'Use a different venue. Use a different platform.' Quite frankly, this is the most effective one.

When I look at our communities, our country, our justice system, those are things I want to change and I'm committed to changing, and that's going to take sacrifice. Laying the foundation is the hardest part and requires a lot of sacrifice and time.

The people who have been unjustly disenfranchised by our criminal justice system and the people who daily fight for them always have, and always will be, the inspiration and focus of my efforts.

Communities of color have also had to watch video after video of unarmed black men and women being handled without regard for their lives or well-being. As a black man, I see these images, and I see myself; I wonder whether this will happen to me or one of my loved ones.

I didn't realize that the platform could be this big until Colin Kaepernick first took a knee. When he did that, that was kind of an 'aha' moment for me.

I can create as many programs and mentorships and scholarships as I want, but it doesn't change the environment in which our youth are growing up in.

Oftentimes, even myself as I've come through my entire career from high school all the way up here, everything has been football, football, football. And then you realize that life is much bigger than this game, especially when you start thinking about life after football and what you want to leave behind.

I'm learning the process of changing things. I'm not really sure where this is going to take me. But I know what I want before my career is over: I want people to remember me as someone other than a guy who just tackled people.

You can't expect to go about change - especially change of this nature, when you talk about racial equality and justice - you can't expect to go about or engage in that without resistance, and so you're going to have some people who aren't on board.

Once you look up, and it's Week 14 or 15, and it's crunch time, you can't all of a sudden turn on a switch and say, 'Hey guys, we have to step up and be brothers, be family.' That's stuff that is developed in the offseason, training camp, or throughout the season.

Everybody I interacted with in my life, directly or indirectly, has placed a fingerprint upon my life. That combination has made me who I am.

Sometimes, we get numb to the fact that people get sent away. We don't see where they are; we say they are 'doing time,' and you really don't know what that is.

We have that responsibility to look out for those who haven't had the road and the success that we have.

After spending time with police officers on ride-alongs, meeting with politicians on the state and federal level and grass roots organizations fighting for human rights, it's clear that our criminal justice system is still crippling communities of color through mass incarceration.

Trump started talking about bringing back stop-and-frisk, which was ruled unconstitutional. And as a black man, that was the last thing I wanted to hear. That you will basically pass laws to say that I can be profiled, and it is legal.

As the blowback against those who stand up for what is right thickens, I feel it is necessary to push forward with a relentless determination.

We've been doing work outside of the anthem since the beginning. Before the anthem even started, players were involved in these types of social justice issues. The anthem protests or demonstrations just brought eyes and attention to it.

Changing communities and changing our country is going to last a lot longer than how many footballs you catch or how many touchdowns you make.

I remember my dad always complaining about getting pulled over. I remember the differences in school systems. I remember seeing police officers, not knowing their names, and knowing that they were there not to protect us, not to serve us, but to watch us.